Stir and strain over ice. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Amaretto Cherries

After finally getting to the sticky bottom of the plastic tub of glacé cherries I had been inflicting on my guests, but worst of all myself, for many months I figured the time was right to make my own cocktail cherries.

I took the recipe at Adam Elmegirab’s website as my inspiration, at least in terms of quantities, but cut back on the cinnamon (as I don’t really like it), added some citrus peel and decided to use Amaretto as the base liqueur.

The recipe is really easy to follow, and I very much enjoyed using the cherry pitter that has been lying neglected in my kitchen drawer for some time. Best of all, I covered myself and most available surfaces in cherry juice.

My recipe was as follows:

Wash and pit 200g cherries.

Combine 60g soft demerara sugar, 60ml water, half a vanilla pod (I used paste), a pinch of nutmeg and a handful of orange and lemon peel in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Add the cherries and simmer for five minutes.

Remove from the heat and add 120ml of Amaretto.

Cool immediately in an ice bath.

Sieve the cherries from the syrup.

Pour the syrup through coffee filter paper to remove sediment.

Combine cherries and syrup in a clean (sterile) glass jar and refrigerate.

As long as you keep the cherries in the liqueur, they should keep for a couple of months, and once you’re done you can use the syrup as a cherry liqueur.

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2 comments on “Amaretto Cherries”

[…] really be home made as shop bought maraschino or glacé varieties do nothing for your drink. Your homemade cherries should be stewed in a liqueur of your choice with some vanilla, spice and citrus […]